[Updated on March 22, 2013. The spokesman of UNSG Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the appeal in this UN briefing.]

Appeal for International Inquiry into the Death of Oswaldo Paya

An open letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and Ambassadors of all Member States

12 March 2013

Excellencies,

We urge you to support our demand for an international and independent investigation into the alleged murder of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá, a world-renowned figure and recipient of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize, who died in a car crash in Bayamo, Cuba, on July 22, 2012, together with fellow activist Harold Cepero.

In dramatic new testimony by the driver of the car, Ángel Carromero describes, in a Washington Post interview dated 6 March 2013, how their vehicle was followed, harassed and ultimately rammed from behind by a car bearing government license plates. Mr. Carromero further alleges that, following the crash, he was drugged, mistreated and coerced by Cuban authorities into making a false confession.

The new revelations corroborate the claims made by the families of the victims and other witnesses, as well as the report by Spain’s ABC news agency about text messages sent contemporaneous with the incident from the mobile phones of Mr. Carromero and another passenger, Aron Modig, indicating that their car was chased and then hit, causing the crash.

Significantly, according to the family of Oswaldo Payá, state security agents had repeatedly threatened to kill him.

Mounting and credible allegations that the Cuban government may have been complicit in the murder of its most prominent critic, a leading figure in the human rights world, cannot go ignored by the international community.

The families of the victims, and the people of Cuba, have a right to know the truth, and they have a right to justice. This can only happen with the creation of an international and independent inquiry. We therefore respectfully urge you to support our call.

Sincerely,

Armando Calderon Sol, former President of El Salvador

Alfredo Cristiani, former President of El Salvador

Luis Alberto Lacalle, former President of Uruguay

Alejandro Toledo, former President of Peru

Luis Alberto Monge, former president of Costa Rica

Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice-President of European Parliament

Markus Meckel, former Foreign Minister of Germany

Irwin Cotler, MP, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate

Zbigniew Romaszewski, former Speaker of Polish Senate, a founder of the Solidarity movement

Stanislav Shushkevich, former president of Supreme Soviet of Belarus, a current opposition leader in Belarus

Arnold Vaatz MP, Deputy Leader CDU, Germany

Emma Henriksson MP, Group leader, The Christian Democrats, The Swedish National Parliament